Let There Be Light in the Hood

Too often, when I tell people I live in Jackson Ward, their first reaction is surprise. "Do you feel safe there, a woman living alone?" is a question I've been asked more times than I cared to answer. And the fact is, I do feel safe here. For one thing, there are always people around, on the sidewalk, on their porches, biking by. But the main reason I feel safe is how well lit this neighborhood is; in many cases, we have more street lighting than some places in the Fan. So, yes, I feel safe, I assure concerned people who ask.

Which made it really strange and more than a bit eerie just now when I left to walk the dog before departing for the evening; there wasn't a street light on as far as the eye could see. Many of my neighbors had their front porch lights on, but they helped only minimally. Without all those street lights, it was black out there. The sky is covered in clouds, which didn't help, either. The beagle and I made slow progress during our walk because of how dark it was and spoke with several neighbors who were as curious as I about the lights' absence.

It was only about 15 minutes later, as we approached my block that the dim glow of the street lights began to show itself. It was very faint at first, but by the time we got to my corner, all the lights were on and the neighborhood had its usual nighttime glow. Safe indeed.